1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color signal correcting method, apparatus, and program and, in particular, to a color signal correcting method, apparatus, and program for correcting color reproduction errors in image signals outputted from a single-plate color image pickup element having a given color filter arrangement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Color imaging apparatuses such as video cameras and digital cameras generally include a color reproduction correcting circuits, which applies linear matrix processing to image signals to improve the color reproduction of a subject. The linear matrix processing is conventionally performed after interpolation of R, G, and B dot sequential color signals outputted from an image pickup element. After the interpolation, the color image signals are corrected according to the following equation so as to match a desired color space (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-298909).
                              (                                                                      R                  ′                                                                                                      G                  ′                                                                                                      B                  ′                                                              )                =                              (                                                            a                                                  b                                                  c                                                                              d                                                  e                                                  f                                                                              g                                                  h                                                  i                                                      )                    ⁢                      (                                                            R                                                                              G                                                                              B                                                      )                                              [                  Formula          ⁢                                          ⁢          1                ]            